Urban Eola

Special contributing writer David Ash, himself a rounder, joins UE for this "insider" piece. Following are his thoughts on the game:

For the last couple years, it’s been possible to find poker on TV at any and all hours of the day, but this won’t last for long. Last year, Congress passed the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (with exemptions for lotteries and horse races, government hypocrisy at its finest) and most online poker sites promptly closed their doors to US customers.

After years of growth, the World Series of Poker will likely see participation drop as much as 50 percent after exponential growth in previous years. This could lead to a crash in the entire online poker industry. For all you rounders out there, the only glimmer of hope is that the new Democratic Congress might overturn the law, but with bigger problems looming that seems a distant possibility.

UE notes // The Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 was rammed through Congress by the Republican leadership in the final minutes before the election period recess. According to Sen. Frank R. Lautenberg (D-N.J.), no one on the Senate-House Conference Committee had even seen the final language of the bill.